Bertha's Visit to Her Uncle in England; vol. 1 [of 3]

by Mrs. Marcet

There are several species, but this one is the halcyon of the ancients, which poets imagined had a floating nest endowed with power to calm the winds and seas. Some of the gravest of the ancient writers relate, that it sat only a few days, just in the depth of winter, and that during that period the mariner might sail in full security—whence the expression, “halcyon days.”

Mr. Lumley has studied the habits even of the despised house-sparrow, which however, he does not at all despise; for he says that it is a most useful creature, destroying various kinds of grubs that would be most injurious to our crops. Though it generally builds in holes and gutters, and under the eaves of houses, yet it sometimes builds in the top of a tree; and then its nest, which is carelessly formed, because in a place where it is protected, is made as large as a man’s head, with a cover to keep off the rain. It is composed chiefly of hay and straw, but warmly lined with feathers, and fragments of thread or worsted, bits of cloth, or any material that can be picked up about a house; and should their nest be destroyed, they will build up another in twenty-four hours.

In some parts of France, Mr. Lumley saw earthen pots hung out of houses, for the sparrows to breed in, for the purpose of having a supply of young sparrows for the table; and it is said that the kings of Persia have them trained to hunt the butterfly.

6th.—My uncle and Mr. Lumley have been conversing to-day about the trees and woods of Europe. I had been saying so much to my cousins lately about the forests of tropical countries, that it was delightful to hear them continue the subject; and finding that I listened, they tried to make me comprehend all they said.

They remarked that each region of Europe may be distinguished, in some degree, by the different character of its forests; the pine and birch being invariably found in the cold northern countries; the lime, beech, ash, oak, chesnut, and walnut in the temperate regions; and, approaching the warmer climates, the cork tree and the olive.

The most useful of the tree families are bountifully extended, said my uncle, from nearly the frigid to the torrid zone; and if we do not possess the rich variety of the tropical regions, the palms, the teak, the mahogany, the banyan, and the baobab, yet are we, on the other hand, provided with some tribes that cannot be surpassed in usefulness or in beauty. And it is worthy of remark, he added, that some one species of the oak and of the pine, those two most useful trees, are to be found in every climate of the earth, excepting in the immediate polar regions. The woods of northern Russia, of Norway, and Sweden, consist, with little variation, of the pine tribe. The Scotch fir retains its dense foliage during the long winter, and affords shelter to the wild animals of the forest; and the greater the intensity of cold, the firmer and more dense the timber becomes in texture. This tree supplies the peasantry with their cottages, their boats, and their fuel. Tar, rosin, and turpentine, are extracted from it by very rude methods of distillation, and its ashes produce potash. On the mountainous ranges of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Apennines, it grows luxuriantly at that elevation where the temperature is similar to that of the northern regions. In the mountains of Thibet, which are now considered the highest in the world, six different species of pine flourish; and even at the elevation of 12,000 feet, forests of pine are found mixed with birch and rhododendron.

In Finland, and in the neighbourhood of Petersburg, the birch, which comes next to the pine in quantity, is inclined to grow by itself; but it abounds in the natural woods of Great Britain and of other parts of Europe. In the central parts of our continent, elm, maple, and ash are common, and grow to a noble size; but their extent is small in proportion to the northern forests of birch and pine, and they seem to prefer an open situation. In the sheltered parts of Savoy and Switzerland the walnut is a very profitable as well as ornamental tree; and the olive flourishes on the sloping sides of the hills, particularly in Italy. In low and warm situations there, the cypress and poplar grow to a great size—above them comes the chesnut, and still higher, approaching the pines, appears the magnificent oak. The grey foliage of the olive gives a peculiar appearance to the country; and the cork-tree, also, Mr. Lumley says, excites the admiration of all travellers. Spain, Portugal, and the South of France are the countries in which this beautiful tree is most prominent;—it grows higher than the oak, of which it is a species, and has more slender branches and smaller leaves. The chief distinction is the spongy bark, which the tree throws off naturally; and it is said that the growth of the tree is improved by peeling it.

Besides the common and well known uses of the bark, he told us that it is employed in Portugal for beehives, for covering stables, and for many domestic purposes. Near Cintra he saw a convent built between two perpendicular rocks which actually formed the outer walls; and the monks, by neatly lining them with large flat pieces of cork, had effectually excluded all dampness. The timber is employed for the same purposes as oak; the acorns fatten immense droves of hogs; and the acorn-cups of this useful tree is one of the principal ingredients in tanning the Portuguese goat-skins.

Cork trees are found in great perfection in the South of France. From Bayonne, where the low sandy heaths called les Landes commence, and extend as far as Bordeaux, the woods consist almost entirely of that tree, and of the pinus maritima, which is scarcely less useful. The wood is excellent, and yields an extraordinary proportion of turpentine resin, and tar; the fruit contains a kernel which has a pleasant flavour of the almond, and is often used in cookery; and from the root is obtained a brown dye which the fishermen use to preserve their nets. They are, however, in many parts of that tract of country prohibited from touching the roots, because their long matted fibres, by running along the surface, fix the loose sand and prevent its blowing away.

Mr. Lumley spoke with admiration of the woods of Old Castile, particularly of the fine evergreen oaks and the bushy laurel-leaved cistus neither of which he has seen anywhere else in such beauty. The acorns of the former, when roasted, form a large part of the food of the poor peasantry.